Prime Minister Mark Carney is defending the appointment of his principal secretary Tom Pitfield to the Senate. Pitfield, a longtime Liberal strategist, was one of four new appointments announced Tuesday, as the prime minister drops the non-partisan criteria for appointments to the upper chamber.
Despite record-breaking fundraising last year, the Conservatives’ $84-million in annual revenue falls over $14-million short of its expenses, as the Liberals' more moderate spending and lower loan balance leaves a rosier financial outlook into 2026. The Conservative Party’s unprecedented spending of nearly $100-million in 2025—roughly one-third of which was shelled out during last year’s general election—may be testing the limits...
NATO countries are bolstering their militaries after U.S. President Donald Trump "won the argument" on defence spending, Prime Minister Mark Carney said Wednesday. Trump has long said allies don't spend enough on defence and that the U.S. has carried more than its fair share of NATO's defence spending burden. Carney told reporters in Turkey on the last day of the...
The Canadian government told the Trump administration new legislation combating forced labour in supply chains should shield Canada from new tariffs. In a written submission to the United States Trade Representative's office, the Government of Canada said it "remains committed to working closely with the United States to eradicate forced labour from global supply chains." "In light of Canada's existing...
The U.S. launched strikes on Iran early Wednesday, hours after it revoked a licence authorizing the sale of Iranian oil in retaliation for what it said were Tehran’s attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran hit back with strikes on Bahrain and Kuwait. U.S. President Donald Trump said later that the interim agreement with Iran was “over” but...
The Liberals continue to lead federal voting intentions, with their advantage over the Conservatives shrinking into the single digits. Mark Carney remains the preferred choice for prime minister, while jobs, the economy and cost-of-living pressures continue to rank among Canadians’ top concerns.
A new Liaison Strategies Toronto Pulse survey shows Mayor Olivia Chow holding a 9-point lead over Councillor Brad Bradford among decided and leaning voters, while Bradford continues to gain ground. If a mayoral election were held today, Chow would receive 49% among decided voters, followed by Bradford at 40% and someone else at 10%. In May, Chow stood at 50%...
Is this the end of Trudeau's independent upper chamber? Though it is perhaps not foremost on their minds when they gain power, every prime minister has the opportunity to put their stamp on the Senate. And if there was particular speculation about what Mark Carney might do in regards to Parliament's upper house, it is because Justin Trudeau's stamp on...
The Prime Minister's grand bargain is just intentions for now. But it's harder for Alberta’s separatists to say he's trying to hobble their industry.
Prime Minister Mark Carney says U.S. President Donald Trump has succeeded in pushing Canada and European allies to spend more on defence, arguing that NATO members increasingly recognize the security threats they face. Carney said he spoke with Trump on Sunday before both leaders arrived at the NATO summit in Ankara and told him that defence spending by Canada and...
Canada’s tradition of providing a residence for the Official Opposition leader is being targeted by a parliamentary petition advanced by a Victoria resident. As of Tuesday, Carol Burman’s petition to stop funding Stornoway as a private residence for the Opposition leader had received 14,831 signatures. The petition opened for signatures on May. 1. The option to sign closes July 30.
“Rather than sitting here and arguing with each other, we’re actually going to get out there and talk to the people!” That’s how Premier Doug Ford defined the Legislature of Ontario. It was his defence for the unprecedented five-month break and the lowest number of days “The Ledge” will sit in decades.
Just how nonsensical does a pitch for a new oil pipeline have to be, in the current political climate, to be rejected out of hand? Courtesy of Doug Ford and Danielle Smith, we’re about to find out.
When it comes to theatre of the absurd in public life, nothing tops pipeline politics. There was Alberta Premier Danielle Smith—who has accused the Liberals of hamstringing Big Oil, crushing her province’s aspirations, and inciting Albertans to break up the country—turning to the feds to build her long-sought new pipeline.
Suddenly, pipelines are all the rage. Time was when you couldn’t get a pipeline built in this country, for love or money. Three pipeline proposals – Northern Gateway, Energy East and Keystone XL – came and went, dead of political hostility, regulatory obstacles or both. Governments, some of them anyway, seemed positively eager to discourage them. Federal legislation, Bill C-69...
Mark Carney had better hope that Tom Pitfield and Richard Martel are good senators. If they are not, it will be his fault. Carney announced the two appointments to the Senate on Tuesday, setting aside the non-partisan process established by Justin Trudeau who reformed the Senate appointment process for good reason. Every prime minister before him used the Senate as...
Do politicians start parades, or merely get in front of them? That’s a question Canadians might be asking this week, following news that the government was polling them on the issue of oil pipelines last fall — just days before Prime Minister Mark Carney announced an agreement with Alberta to explore building a new one to B.C.
Instead of building a winning coalition against Mark Carney, Poilievre keeps picking unnecessary fights with Conservatives who should be helping him win.
As NATO leaders gather in Ankara, Turkey, this week, much of the attention will inevitably be focusing on U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest complaints about burden-sharing and American leadership. That’s understandable. But, if the summit becomes consumed by familiar political theatrics, it will miss a far more important strategic opportunity. Ukraine has exposed a vulnerability in Russia’s war economy that...
The South Korean bidder, Hanwha, backed by its government, promised to put money into a Canadian steel plant and put commercials on TV. Germany’s TKMS proposed later subproduction in Canada and lined up Canadian subcontractors. Somewhere in there, on top of the bidding war for highly exaggerated “economic benefits,” was a choice between two top-notch diesel submarines, a key future...
Just over two years ago, the Liberal government released its defence policy review, Our North, Strong and Free, which purported to focus on Arctic sovereignty by defending Canada’s coastline from maritime and airborne threats.
While the Carney government bills itself as Canada’s “new government”, it has gone with the conventional choice in selecting a German-Norwegian consortium to supply and maintain up to 12 new submarines for the Royal Canadian Navy’s Canadian Patrol Submarine Project (CPSP). After a monthslong contest between South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha and the German/Norwegian consortium TKMS, Prime Minister Mark Carney went...
Donald Trump has often been described as unpredictable. And that’s true — but when he chose not to renew the CUSMA trade deal, no one could claim to be surprised. The Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement could have been renewed by all three parties on its existing terms for an additional 16 years. Having announced this week that it would not be...
Prime Minister Mark Carney is proving that politics at its most important is a big-picture game. Which is to say, it isn’t only about the price of gas, the cost of housing, and the dozens of other kitchen-table issues that normally dominate the public debate.
Mark Carney keeps saying he’s running a new government, not just a sequel to the Justin Trudeau years. This week, Canadians may finally have to admit he’s right. As the door opens to a new Alberta pipeline, Carney closed the door on the Trudeau era.
Let’s thank U.S. President Donald Trump for one thing. As Ottawa launches a national competition to restore 24 Sussex Drive, the White House renovations are a lesson in what not to do. A master class, really. Trump is building to glorify himself. The “goldening” of the Oval Office, the transformation of the Rose Garden into a Mar-a-Lago-style patio designed to...
British Columbia Premier David Eby, had, in U.S. President Donald Trump’s words, “no cards” to play during contentious pipeline talks, but he walked away this week with a winning hand, leaving Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith with successes to boast of, but with major political wounds, too. When Carney and Smith signed a memorandum of understanding...
Enlightened Americans will watch in horror today as Donald Trump presides over a grotesque national birthday celebration, recoiling at the president’s kingly indulgences, seeing them as affronts to the memory of the noble patriots who established their republic 250 years ago.
When Canada signed the Safe Third Country Agreement with the United States in 2002, the bargain rested on one assumption: that the U.S. offers a fair, humane process to people fleeing persecution. That assumption is no longer true, and this week the U.S. Supreme Court made it official. In two rulings on June 25, the Court sided with the Trump...
One of the perverse joys of politics is when an elected official looks you in the eye and tells you that the thing going on directly in front of your face is not happening. This happened twice during Mark Carney’s Oprah giveaway day on Thursday: You get a port! And you get a tunnel! And everybody gets a pipeline, whether...
Canada’s national holiday and America’s fall within a few days of each other, yet celebrate two very different things. Each celebrates their respective country’s birth, of course, but they define this in different ways. The American commemorates a breach, an abrupt and indeed violent rupture with the imperial power; the Canadian, the date scheduled for its inception as a federal...
Prime Minister Mark Carney deserves credit for doing the thing that prime ministers before him have been too pusillanimous to do for decades. While it shouldn’t be politically risky, really, to spend some money to refurbish the official residence of the Prime Minister ‐ which has been inhabited only by mice and insects for the last 10 years – this...
Mark Carney makes $17 billion in infrastructure pledges to B.C. on same day door opens to pipeline from Alberta to tidewater
Right after Alberta Premier Danielle Smith rolls out her pipeline plans to the country Thursday night she heads off to the Cowboys Music Festival. As the premier makes her way to Cowboys she sounds very happy. She is not claiming victory when the goal line is still down the field. But she and her government have clearly moved the yardsticks...
Canada’s decision to buy up to 12 new submarines from German naval giant TKMS is more than just the country’s biggest-ever defence procurement deal: it’s a chance to build a new industry to maintain the vessels and join a global supply chain serving countries both within and potentially outside the NATO alliance.
Liberal MPs shut down a Conservative attempt to have the House of Commons ethics committee investigate the government's plan to turn unsold condos into affordable housing in British Columbia. The Liberal government joined with the B.C. government last month to announce a plan to have the governments buy up 2,200 vacant condo units to convert into affordable housing. The Conservatives...
It was a day of congratulating the winners and perhaps consoling the loser at the NATO summit for Canada's prime minister. Mark Carney met with the leaders of Germany and Norway on Tuesday in a trilateral meeting where they thanked each over Canada's decision to accept German shipyard ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS)'s bid to build 12 submarines for the navy.
A South Korean shipbuilding company is withdrawing from a partnership to build a training hub with Mohawk College and Ontario Shipyards in Hamilton because Canada has chosen to buy navy submarines from a German company instead of Hanwha Ocean. The remaining partners say Hanwha's support was "significant," but their initiative is not dead in the water.
The U.S. military launched new strikes against Iran early Wednesday, hours after three merchant ships were struck in the Strait of Hormuz, in the latest exchange of fire to threaten the interim deal to end the fighting between the two countries. The renewed attacks were sure to add to the difficulty of the negotiations aimed at fully reopening the strait...
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first-ever Senate appointments tap two partisan picks from both sides of the aisle—a sitting Conservative MP and the Prime Minister Office’s principal secretary—signifying a return to a more partisan Upper Chamber, says one former PMO staffer. “This signifies … a realization from Mr. Carney and his team that they needed more certainty in the Senate, and...
Prime Minister Mark Carney has named his principal secretary Tom Pitfield to the Senate, as he says he is dropping the non-partisan criteria for appointments to the upper chamber. Pitfield is one of four new appointments to the Senate announced Tuesday, the first Carney has made since he took office more than a year ago. Conservative MP Richard Martel is...
Isar Aerospace will build a dedicated complex in Canso, N.S., for its launch vehicle. The company vying to build Canada's first commercial rocket launch pad in Nova Scotia has signed a deal with a German aerospace firm that could see orbital launches by 2028. Maritime Launch Services Ltd. says Germany's Isar Aerospace plans to build a dedicated complex at its...
Canada's multi-billion-dollar submarine deal with German defence manufacturer TKMS is among billions in military purchases being showcased at the NATO leaders' summit in Turkey this week, as the allies look to appease U.S. President Donald Trump. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said Tuesday that allies and industry were revealing new major projects and signing contracts worth billions of dollars. Announcements included...
Canada’s defence minister says a proposed submarine deal with Germany could allow NATO allies to share crews across a larger fleet, with several countries operating the same class of submarine. “My understanding is in choosing the German-Norwegian manufacturers, there’s a degree of interoperability that’s inherent in the choice,” David J. McGuinty said while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of...
Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday that he will appoint one of his most senior advisers to the Senate, a move that could send shockwaves through the Red Chamber. Tom Pitfield, who served on Carney's 2025 campaign team and then became a principal secretary in the Prime Minister's Office, has been named to the upper house. The government will also...
Richard Martel is leaving the Conservative caucus after being named to the Senate, as Prime Minister Mark Carney makes his first picks to the Upper Chamber. Martel was one of four appointments announced on Tuesday, alongside Tom Pitfield, Carney’s former principal secretary. Rodney Ouellette of New Brunswick and Manitoba’s Geeta Tucker are also headed to the red chamber. The Globe...
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s flagship investment agency has delivered a blunt message to United Arab Emirates officials looking to pour billions of dollars into Canada: we have nowhere to put your money. Three officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the Calgary-based Major Projects Office in mid-June told an official UAE delegation it was too soon to inject capital...
Prime Minister Mark Carney is in and out of meetings Tuesday with heads of allied nations in Turkey's capital on the margins of this year's NATO summit. The prime minister met with Turkish President Recep Erdogan, who is hosting this year's summit. A bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is also on his agenda. Carney is later expected to...
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte says the alliance will work with Swedish manufacturer Saab on up to 10 early warning surveillance planes built by a Canadian company. Rutte told an audience at the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, that its current fleet is nearing the end of its lifespan. The GlobalEye system combines Saab technology with Bombardier's Global 6500 business jet.
Renata Ford, the wife of late Toronto mayor Rob Ford, has died. Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced the news in a statement on Monday night. Renata was a sister-in-law to the premier. She was also the mother of two children. "My heart breaks for Stephanie and Dougie," the premier said in the statement.
On the day that New Democrat Leader Marit Stiles predicted prison for Premier Doug Ford, she added extra shots of two-percent milk to her morning coffee, which means the caffeine was not to blame. It is true that, on May 4, Stiles’s top staffers got her energized over the ongoing RCMP and integrity commissioner investigations into Ford’s government, during their...
Regardless of who you talk with in the defence community, there's a clear consensus that many European leaders are going to be treading lightly over the next few days as they wander the political minefield at the NATO summit in Turkey. On the one side, there is the desire to say or do nothing to aggravate the already aggrieved U.S...
New analyses suggest EV adoption will fall short of target under proposed tailpipe rules. The federal government pitched its new tailpipe standards as a way to make fuel-efficient cars more accessible to Canadians. But two groups advocating for low-emission travel say the rules would put the country short of its goal — and ultimately leave most Canadians at the mercy...
Prime Minister Mark Carney on Monday named German defence manufacturer TKMS as the preferred bidder to supply the Royal Canadian Navy's next fleet of submarines, though the company's CEO says the real work "begins now." Part of the next phase of negotiations with TKMS will be nailing down details of the industrial benefits promised for Canada.
Mark Carney is appointing his chief strategist to the Senate in one of the prime minister’s first moves to fill a growing number of upper chamber vacancies. Tom Pitfield has been serving as principal secretary to Mr. Carney since he became prime minister last year and also played a central role in the government’s AI strategy. The announcement of his...
Monday marked the start of a new federal policy requiring all core federal public servants to be at work in-person four days a week, and while the rollout hasn’t gone over well with all workers, the federal finance minister says the move is about efficiency. “We need to bring people back to deliver service to Canadians, and at the same...
Prime Minister Mark Carney on Monday named German defence manufacturer TKMS as the preferred bidder to supply the Royal Canadian Navy's next fleet of submarines, and he said several are expected to be delivered by 2034. Carney made the announcement at a Canadian Armed Forces base in Halifax, a stop along his way to this year's annual NATO summit in...
Lich is serving a conditional sentence for her role in the 2022 protest and had to obtain permission to travel
Astronaut Jeremy Hansen, who made a historic trip around the moon aboard NASA’s Artemis 2 mission earlier this year, is leaving the Canadian Space Agency. The agency says Hansen has announced he will pursue “new professional opportunities” as of September. He will continue to serve as a reservist with the Royal Canadian Air Force.
A federal union says it will add millions of dollars to its strike fund ahead of what it expects to be "challenging" contract talks this fall. The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada is set to negotiate new contracts for close to 50,000 members later this year and says topping up its strike fund sends a message that...
A Republican lawmaker in Washington is firing back at Canadian provinces for retaliating against U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs by banning the sale of U.S. alcohol. Claudia Tenney, a member of the House of Representatives whose district includes parts of northern New York, has introduced a bill aimed at punishing Canada over restrictions on U.S. alcohol imports imposed by eight...
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith and Ontario Premier Doug Ford unveiled Monday a route for a proposed west-east oil pipeline. The two premiers say it would stretch 3,300 kilometres from Hardisty, Alta., to refineries in Sarnia, Ont., without crossing the U.S. border. They made the announcement at the Calgary Stampede after the two leaders were up bright and early flipping pancakes...
The race to become the next leader of the Ontario Liberal Party is narrowing, as one contestant has decided to bow out. Rob Cerjanec, who represents Ajax for the party in the legislature, says he has made the difficult decision to suspend his campaign after speaking with family, supporters and colleagues. His caucus colleague Lee Fairclough, who represents Etobicoke-
Gordie Howe bridge, fighter jets part of Independence Day remarks with political message. U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra's speech at his Fourth of July party in Ottawa included a political nudge aimed at Canada, with American F-35 fighter jets flying over the crowd and a comment about some provinces' bans on American booze. Hoekstra set a goal on stage...
U.S. President Donald Trump meets fellow NATO leaders at a summit on Tuesday as the alliance tries to persuade him that their countries are actively increasing their military capabilities even as the American focus shifts away from its defense of Europe toward Asia.
NEW YORK (AP) -- After decades of reliable bipartisan backing for Israel, a new AP-NORC poll reveals a dramatic erosion of support for the longtime U.S. ally, with rising opposition from Democrats and signs of division among Republicans.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump's mass pardons for supporters who stormed the U.S. Capitol don't apply to a Virginia man charged with planting pipe bombs near the national headquarters of the Democratic and Republican parties on the eve of the Jan. 6, 2021, riot, a federal judge ruled Monday.
President Donald Trump is responding to global outrage over his intervention with FIFA during the World Cup. The president said he didn't initially know what a red card was or what its consequences were, but when he learned it could keep star U.S. forward Folarin Balogun out of Monday's knockout match against Belgium, he felt compelled to call FIFA president...
The U.S. launched strikes on Iran early Wednesday, hours after it revoked a licence authorizing the sale of Iranian oil in retaliation for what it said were Tehran’s attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran hit back with strikes on Bahrain and Kuwait. U.S. President Donald Trump said later that the interim agreement with Iran was “over” but...
The U.S. military launched new strikes against Iran early Wednesday, hours after three merchant ships were struck in the Strait of Hormuz, in the latest exchange of fire to threaten the interim deal to end the fighting between the two countries. The renewed attacks were sure to add to the difficulty of the negotiations aimed at fully reopening the strait...
Prime Minister Mark Carney is scheduled to leave for Ankara on Monday to attend the annual NATO summit -- the first visit by a Canadian prime minister to Turkey since 2015. Turkey's capital will make up the first leg of Carney's week-long sojourn to the Middle East, which will conclude with a short stay in Saudi Arabia aimed at deepening...
The Trump administration is hindering work at the United Nations on advancing equality, says Canada's UN Ambassador David Lametti. "There has been a general obstructionist policy, (a) cantankerous policy with respect to women's rights, a woman's right to choose, with respect to LGBTQ+ rights (and) gender equality," Lametti told The Canadian Press when asked to describe American actions at the...
Prime Minister Mark Carney will meet next week with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, but federal officials would not say whether the prime minister plans to raise human rights concerns during the visit. At a background briefing ahead of the trip, officials would only point to Carney’s past comments on the issue. “The Prime...
For decades, Canada’s relationship with the United States was characterized by a binational commitment to security, prosperity, and democracy. Rapidly changing US expectations on policy, priorities, and approach – in a volatile international security environment – have added friction to the bilateral relationship. Given the power asymmetry inherent to the relationship, precedent suggests that Canada comes out ahead when it...
Prime Minister Mark Carney’s decision to select Germany’s ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS), in partnership with Norway, as the supplier of Canada’s next submarine fleet is one of the most consequential defence procurement choices Canada has made in decades. It will shape the Royal Canadian Navy, Canada’s Arctic and maritime posture, and the country’s defence-industrial partnerships for a generation. The decision...
For more than 75 years, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has existed to do one thing: keep its members secure while anchoring them in democracy, individual liberty, and the rule of law (The North Atlantic Treaty 1949, preamble). Canada, as a founding member, plays a critical role in promoting these principles. The Canadian government frames its objective as ensuring...
A collection of SubStack publishing within Canadian public affairs.
In 1995 the Canadian economy was not exactly humming along – it still hadn’t got its mojo back after the severe 1990-92 recession. The unemployment rate was 9.5%, GDP per capita had only just made it back to the level of 1989, and steep spending cuts in Paul Martin’s February budget signaled more contraction.
The name tags that RCMP officers are required to wear for identification no longer have to display their actual names, a move intended to protect them from digital bad actors. In a significant amendment to the Mounties’ Uniform Dress Manual, regular members now can choose to display only their regimental numbers rather than their names.
Today’s Roundtable discussion began with an email from former Bank of Canada governor and deputy minister of finance David Dodge to fellow Sage contributors. David posed this question and observation: “Can Canada still afford the welfare state we built in the 1960s when domestic productivity, labour force growth and investment were high and the global economic conditions were favourable? In...
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has been front and centre of two pipeline proposal announcements in the past week. First, she and Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a new southern route for the proposed West Coast pipeline on Thursday. Just a few days later, on Monday, she and Ontario Premier Doug Ford announced a proposal for a new 3,300-kilometre pipeline that...
This week, Prime Minister Carney is in Turkey to attend the NATO summit. Ahead of leaving for Ankara, he announced the procurement of 12 submarines from the German company TKMS, in what’s expected to be the largest military procurement deal in Canada’s history.
Bill C-22 has sparked wide controversy surrounding its potential threat to privacy, as well as the way it's been rushed through parliamentary processes. Not only that, but experts are sounding the alarm on its potential connection to the US Cloud Act, which gives American government officials the power to demand user data from tech companies. Host Caryn Ceolin speaks to...
David Herle, Scott Reid, Jordan Leichnitz, and Kory Teneycke provide insights on the latest in Canadian politics.
